How easy is it to hack smart toys?

This holiday season, how concerned should I be about smart toys and their vulnerability to hacking?

You should be concerned both, that Internet connected toys can be hacked and also that they have shoddy privacy practices. And then the voice files of your kid talking to their teddy bear will end up in the cloud, accessible to all kinds of creepy people. On the other hand, Internet connected toys are great. Kids need to learn about technology. So, tradeoffs.

How has the gaming industry changed with the recent launch of Google Stadia?

Well, it hasn't really changed yet because it just launched. But the idea of Stadia is it'll be much easier to play really any game on any screen. So that should make the industry more democratic, which will make it much easier to launch a new game. But we'll see.

What are your tips to help my tech-illiterate relatives over the holidays?

I'm gonna give you one: Two-Factor Authentication. Help grandma set up to Two-FA on her phone and everyone will be safer.